In 1997, an article published in "Don Balon" (a very prestigious football magazine) stated that: "The fact that in the last 23 years Cobreloa is the only regional (non-Santiago-based) team that won the First Division Title reflects clearly that the orange team is already within the big ones of our football". It's just that Cobreloa did not have puberty, it went from childhood straight to adulthood.

It has been over a qarter of a century from the "Now or Never", the motto that moved everyone in El Loa Province by the end of 1976 in order to have a Professional Football team. But entering was not easy: the conditions of the time implicitly ruled that professional football should range from Antofagasta in the north to Temuco in the south. The support of the Chuquicamata Division of Codelco Chile (one of the largest mining companies in Chile and the world) and of its workers was a key factor to make the dream come true.

Carnival in El Loa

The crucial date came on January 7th, 1977. The ACF (Asociacion Central de Futbol) admitted Cobreloa in the Second Division (Now First Division B), with 38 votes favoring the admission. La algarabia se desato inmediatamente en el desierto: Car parades went around Calama and Chuquicamata, celebrating this important moment.

But the ACF stated that the name should be different to Deportes El Loa, which already had 28 years in the Amateur Football. A new name was needed and eventually Cobreloa was suggested. Coul it be any better? It was a name that represented the whole province. With the change of name, the foundation of Cobreloa was sealed.

Riera makes up the team

Now it was time to make up the team. The well-kwnown Fernando Riera was hired to test local players. The ones selected were taken then by two local coachers: Carlos Lillo and Roberto Rodriguez. The chosen ones were:

Goalkeepers: Raul Lopez and Manuel Reyes.
Deffenders: Juan Maldonado, Luis Huanca, Jorge Gonzalez, Carlos "Chifli" Rojas and Guillermo Palacios.
Midfielders: Armando Alarcon, Juan Veas and Gabriel Caceres.
Strikers: Hector Castillo, Gustavo Cuello, Hector Bravo, Ernesto Ardiles and Guillermo Gonzalez.

To coach the team, there were three people in mind: Isaac Carrasco, Salvador Nocetti and Andres Prieto. Eventually Andres Prieto was chosen, in part for the good campaigns he had in Uruguay. During the pre-season training period in Las Vertientes (near Calama), the team started to take shape. In addition to the local players, new players arrived to Calama: the uruguayans Luis Garisto, Baudilio Jauregui and Julio Correa; Juan Roly Nunez, Juan Olivares, German Concha, Manfredo Gonzalez, Guillermo Yavar, Francisco "Chamaco" Valdes, Raul Gomez and Luis Ahumada.

Everything was goind and done fast. The debut came against Antofagasta for the Chile Cup (a pre-seasonal tournament with a groups-and-playoffs system). In an stadium with over 10,000 people, this newborn team managed to beat the local team (Antofagasta) 2 to 0. The older fans who witnessed the game still remember Cobreloa's first goal, scored by Armando Alarcon with a good headball on the 21st minute of the first period. Twelve minutes later, Juan Roly Nunez would score the second goal to give Cobreloa the first of many victories to come.

Cobreloa's first line-up was the following:

Goalkeeper: Juan Oivares.
Defenders: Manfredo Gonzalez, luis Garisto, Juan Aedo and German Concha.
Midfielders: Luis Huanca, Juan Nunez, Armando Alarcon (replaced later by Ernesto Aviles).
Strikers: Gustavo Cuello and Hector Castillo.

After the qualifying round of that year Copa Chile, Cobreloa was the runner-up to Ovalle, which had a young but powerful team (with players like Hugo Tabilo and Eduardo Gomez) which would eventually be the base for the great Cobreloa of the early 80's. Cobreloa was superior to La Serena, Antofagasta and Coquimbo and although it was not enough to go on to the next round, Cobreloa surprised everyone and started to write one of the most brilliant pages in the history of Chilean football.